About

programs and conservation

Naturalist Programs
Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre offers group programs for schools, youth programs, and adult naturalists. Get a closer look at nature with programs such as photography, outdoor survival skills, exploring the microscopic world, plant and bird identification, astronomy, and much more. Advanced booking is required. Please contact the Interpretation Centre for more information.

Don't Feed the Ducks and Geese
While visitors may enjoy the extensive duck population that calls Rockwood Park home, it’s important that you do NOT feed them. Feeding the ducks leads to their becoming dependent on humans; delayed migration; malnutrition; overcrowding; and lake pollution (swimmer's itch!) due to increased levels of duck feces.

Beaver Deceiver
Park visitors may notice this strange contraption in Harrigan Lake. A resident beaver has taken to damming up the culvert under the Zoo Trail, threatening to flood the trail. The "beaver deceiver" is a fence installed in the water around the mouth of the culvert. Fish and other animals are able to swim through the fence, but beavers, as clever as they might be, are unable to figure out how to dam such an unnatural shape. this simple solution allows people and beavers to share the park without incident.

SUCCESS!! Since installing the beaver deceiver in 2018, the park trails have stopped being flooded in that area. Beavers continue to co-exist with humans in the park, they make their homes in areas that cause less conflict.

Memorial Bench Program
The City of Saint John offers an opportunity for citizens to honour passed loved ones through its Memorial Bench Program.

🕿 (506) 658-2883
🖂 Rockwood Staff

park_bench_donation_program_2022.pdf

Nuisance Deer Management Program
Although Rockwood Park is a haven for urban deer, increasingly there are negative human-deer interactions in the surrounding residential areas. Click here to read about how city staff are working with landowners and provincial scientists to come up with solutions.